I'm a bit distressed today. I have been over the past few days actually.

I'm wondering if how I am living my life is truly investing in the kingdom of God instead of the kingdom of this world. Here's an example.

Lynsey (my wife) and I have recently added another step to our nightly ruitine. We normally start getting ready for bed around 9 or 9:30. She brushes her teeth and washes her face while I read for a little while or fiddle with something. Then I brush my teeth. Then we work on our memory verses and pray. Normally we would just go to sleep after that. But lately we've been watching a TV show that we have 2 seasons of on DVD. After the show we drift to sleep.

If we watch one hour of that show every day like we have the past few weeks, that is 365 hours per year. If we do this for the next 50 years (I'll be 75 and probably die then), we will have invested 18,250 hours of our lives in a TV show. Yeah, that's a lot of time.

In the past the question I would ask is, "What TV show? Is it OK to watch?" You might have wondered the same thing when you read the above paragraph.

But the question I've been asking lately is, "Does watching that show make an investment in the kingdom of God?"

Don't we usually ask the question "What can I get away with in order to not make God angry?"

We want to know how far we can move toward the "line" of sin without actually sinning. We figure if we can just avoid sinning, then we're in good with God and He'll be obligated to bless us and we'll be in a right standing before Him.

It took a theoretical situation for me to see that is a load of crap.

Imagine watching me stand before God one day when He asks, "What have you done with the time I gave you on earth? How have you invested in my kingdom?"

You see me bend down, pick up something, and slowly reveal to the Lord of the universe my investment in his kingdom . . . 18,250 hours . . . of TV.

Maybe "What can I get away with?" is not the right question! Um, as a matter of fact, that's the stupidest question ever! If I'm not investing my time in the work of the kingdom, then I might as well be sinning!

So I'm not saying all TV is of the Devil and anyone who watches any is going to Hell. I'm sure there are times when believers just need to relax and rest and maybe TV helps in that. So in a way that's investing in the kingdom.

Here's my point though. Ultimately, the question to ask is not "What can I get away with and not sin?" But rather, "How can I invest in the kingdom of God?"

I just don't want to waste my life on worthless crap that doesn't matter. If I'm not investing in the kingdom, then what am I doing? Nothing.

Jacob